Private Insurance Websites Doing What HealthCare.gov Can't

President Barack Obama is being thrown a lifeline by private industry, which has been launching insurance websites to do the job his troubled HealthCare.gov website has largely failed to do.

Michael Mahoney, senior vice president of GoHealth.com, told Fox News Channel's "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren" on Monday that his company began offering plans Sunday night, and can help people who are getting subsidies from the federal government.

The government contacted GoHealth to help sign people up more than a year ago, Mahoney said, and the company began developing software to connect the community with the federal data hub.

Private companies such as GoHealth must offer the same choice of plans as HealthCare.gov for the same price. Mahoney called his company "agnostic" on which plan people pick since they get the same commission regardless of what customers choose.

Elise Viebeck of The Hill told guest host Dana Perino that private companies such as GoHealth are doing the job HealthCare.gov was intended to do to begin with.

"Federal health officials were wise to make these contracts with private companies that have been doing this for years," Viebeck said.